Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has leaked a new top-secret document that for the first time ever publically discloses how the
United States spends tens of billions of dollars annually on clandestine spy programs.

The Washington Post revealed the so-called “black budget” on Thursday and reports that $52.6 billion was set aside for operations in fiscal year
2013

We've suspected for some time that the CIA and NSA has a black budget, and this new leak from Snowden now for the first time confirms how much the US
government is spending on its 'black budget' operations.

There is an actual link to the document for those interested in the RT article. Although the first page of the document does warn that 'undisclosed
exposure would lead to criminal sanctions' so I won't link it directly!!

From the RT article-

Shrouded in secrecy, the amount that Uncle Sam sets aside for sensitive operations each year is not allowed to be published for eyes outside of the
intelligence community and only for a portion of those briefed on its operations. The latest Snowden leak reveals that at $52.6 billion

And for those nations of upmost interest, the intelligence community is investing heavily on “offensive cyber operations” launched by the CIA and
NSA to hack foreign competitors, steal data and sabotage servers. The Post neglected to publish any excerpts from the summary detailing to what degree
the intelligence community has been engaging in these strategic hacks, saying only that recently launched efforts are more “aggressive” than
before. As RT has reported extensively in the past, the US government has been accused of being the biggest hackers on the planet at a time when,
domestically, so-called cybercriminals are prosecuted at an alarming rate for comparably less harsh crimes.

We've suspected for some time that the CIA and NSA has a black budget, and this new leak from Snowden now for the first time confirms how much the US
government is spending on its 'black budget' operations.

There is an actual link to the document for those interested in the RT article. Although the first page of the document does warn that 'undisclosed
exposure would lead to criminal sanctions' so I won't link it directly!!

From the RT article-

Shrouded in secrecy, the amount that Uncle Sam sets aside for sensitive operations each year is not allowed to be published for eyes outside of the
intelligence community and only for a portion of those briefed on its operations. The latest Snowden leak reveals that at $52.6 billion

And for those nations of upmost interest, the intelligence community is investing heavily on “offensive cyber operations” launched by the CIA and
NSA to hack foreign competitors, steal data and sabotage servers. The Post neglected to publish any excerpts from the summary detailing to what degree
the intelligence community biggest hackers on the planet at a time when, domestically, so-called cybercriminals are prosecuted at an alarming rate for
comparably less harsh crimes.
/ex]

We've suspected for some time that the CIA and NSA has a black budget, and this new leak from Snowden now for the first time confirms how much the US
government is spending on its 'black budget' operations.

Actually, this falls into 'sensationalized' reporting. For decades the U.S. government publishes it's fiscal budet annually, and anyone adept at
simply reading budget allocations can see, for decades 'black project' budget items.

So, in reality, this is really not really new news. NOW if he had revealed specifics, like what the money is 'specifically' being spent on, well
that is a different discussion.

Every country has a 'black budget'. The U.S.A. just happens to be such an open society that most of this information is very available. So, a
headline grabber, yeah for sure....but as far as revealing something that is not already in the public domain is something entirely different.

Really nothing so troubling here.

NOW, if you had a report that $2.2 Billion was spent on a secret underground military base in Idaho..that would be interesting or a secret space
mission, that would be interesting. But in the last 50 years, it is no secret that the U.S. has spent more than a few trillion dollar of tax payer
money on secret black projects mostly for the security of America.

Sorry....but that is the bottom line. I'm sure there will be many to rip this apart....but before you do, go and try and find out Russia's,
China's, Israel's secret budgets.....you'd crap your pants!!

Even given the access that he had, It would be next to impossible for him to have that kind of information. There is no single repository that would
have information on the budgeting of all of what would be called the "black ops" programs. The information about this is FAR too compartmentalized
for that to be done. I only have limited hands-on experience with budgeting information in the military, but even that small amount is enough to
smell the BS on this.

This, in a round about manner, confirms what I have thought since the Snowden story broke. He is supposed to be silenced by Putin, yet stories keep
getting leaked. I believe, prior to seeking asylum, Snowden released his entire portfolio of secrets to numerous sources and gave them definitive
dates for release of information. This would allow him to take the deal that he would not actively try to release information or harm relations with
the US because the information was already in the hands of the media with specific instructions on release dates.

Originally posted by Vasa Croe
This, in a round about manner, confirms what I have thought since the Snowden story broke. He is supposed to be silenced by Putin, yet stories keep
getting leaked. I believe, prior to seeking asylum, Snowden released his entire portfolio of secrets to numerous sources and gave them definitive
dates for release of information. This would allow him to take the deal that he would not actively try to release information or harm relations with
the US because the information was already in the hands of the media with specific instructions on release dates.

I had pondered this set-up myself. I hope that he did distribute the documents around with release dates set. It is a nearly foolproof way to obey an
order to keep silent while still leaking the info---the info was already spread around prior, releases would be out of his hands at the present

And yeah, that number is way too small to be the Black Budget spending. WAY too small. 4 to 5 times that is what I would expect to see going into the
Black Hole coffers.

Originally posted by Vasa Croe
This, in a round about manner, confirms what I have thought since the Snowden story broke. He is supposed to be silenced by Putin, yet stories keep
getting leaked. I believe, prior to seeking asylum, Snowden released his entire portfolio of secrets to numerous sources and gave them definitive
dates for release of information. This would allow him to take the deal that he would not actively try to release information or harm relations with
the US because the information was already in the hands of the media with specific instructions on release dates.

If I recall correctly, Snowden pretty much outright stated that he had done this already in his first interview as a basic warning that, no matter
what would happen with him, the information would still get out. It was basically his way of saying that even if he gets killed or whatever, it's
still going to happen.

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